Coming Home to Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen is a romantic story of love when you least expect it.
It is a story of family. No matter how old your adult children are, you are always their parent and will be there for them through life’s complications. It is also a story of a community.
Grace Winter chose Christmas Day to share the news that she was selling the family home in Granite Springs and moving to Bellbird Bay to be closer to her sister.
Her two daughters Lou and Mel are shocked. Ben, her son is more understanding as he knows the 20-acre property is far too much for their mum to manage since their father died.
Grace loves her new cottage with the views of the beach. It is a place she has chosen herself. If only her children would visit and understand how she loves the ambience and how peaceful Bellbird Bay is.
Dot, Grace’s sister, organises a dinner party for Grace to meet their friends.
Ted Crawford, a lawyer, has retired and returned to live in Bellbird Bay. He has been on his own for many years and enjoys his quiet lifestyle. Ted is kept busy surfing and being a volunteer with the Turtle Watch Group. He is not looking for anyone to share his life with. Reluctantly Ted accepts an invitation to dinner to meet his friend’s sister in law.
The dinner party is an uncomfortable event for Grace and Ted when they realise they are the only single people there. Dot’s matchmaking was not a success!
Some time later, Grace and Ted meet while walking on the beach and discover they are almost neighbours. A friendship slowly develops.
Grace’s three children all have complications in their lives. As does, Aaron, Ben’s son.
Will their friendship have any chance of developing further, as their combined children need more and more of their time?
The characters in the book are lovely and are dealing with real-life issues that everyone can identify with, which makes the story heartwarming and authentic.
This is the second book in the Bellbird Bay series and the characters from the first story make appearances in this story. After all Bellbird Bay is such a wonderful community and setting in which to live. I look forward to more Bellbird Bay adventures!
It was a wonderful read.
A selection of Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Coming Home to Bellbird Bay. Read their comments below or add your own review.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Coming Home to Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen was the second book in the Bellbird Bay series, although it could be read as a stand-alone book as there were no real connections to the first book. It was an easy read that I could relax and enjoy without having to concentrate too hard. This story focussed on different characters to the first book and was largely about the development of a particular relationship at an older age. I quite liked the other characters (their children) and would be interested to see if other books in the series relate to them. I’ll look out for more Bellbird Bay books as they come out. Thank you Beauty and Lace for letting me review this book >:o)
Just like book 1, I absolutely loved this novel. It is so refeshing to read about life and love in later years of life. The backstory of each characters life, makes for a wonderful read. I could relate so easily to the worries, as well as the trials, they had with their adult children.
A story about Grace moving on after the death of her husband, and retired Lawyer Ted. Meanwell friends try to match make in the picturesque town Of Bellbird Bay, but love has it’s own ideas, and of course their are many challenges with their adult children hindering their blossoming romance.
Qute a few characters are n the story, but it is so well writen, that they are all easy to picture iin your mind, and follow their story.
I read book one, and this story touches very lightly on the characters from the former book, but it is very much a stand alone story. I loved the first book, and this one didn’t disappoint either. I hope there will be more in the Bellbird Bay series.
Thank you beauty & Lace for the opportunity to read this, and to Maggi Christensen for another wonderful page turner
A beautiful story which I loved! How could you not fall in love with the beautiful characters of Grace and Ted while reading their relationship grow! Family heart aches and miscommunication along with strong characters in the children of both Grace and Ted.
A book to sit down to read on a sunny winters day, keep read until you finish and then be sad it’s finished.
Thank you Maggie Christensen for another delightful read in Coming Home to Bellbird Bay.
Despite the disapproval of her children, specifically her daughters, Grace, in her 60s, decides to sell here acreage in Granite springs to relocate to the seaside town of Bellbird Bay. This will bring her closer to her sister Dot, give her a property that is easier to manage and help her move on from the memories and reminders of her dearly departed husband Russ.
Finding her way in the new town, Grace attends a dinner arranged by Dot that was set to “introduce” her to some new people. Enter Ted, widower and also in his 60’s, a friend of Dot’s husband and local to the area. He too found the dinner a set up of Dot’s and was not really keen to interact with nor meet the new “single” woman. A disaster in its own way, both Grace and Ted avoid the set up.
Easter and disappointment from her eldest child Lou shunning their family gathering, Grace is disappointed. Thankfully a resentful Mel and a supportive Ben come to see her new home. But the drama that follows was not all that Grace expected. Mel pregnant, Ben moving to a more local job, bumping into the man from the set up… Feelings she never thought possible again…
Romance, drama, challenges all in one place. This book holds well on its own but also follows on super well from the preceding book “Summer in Bellbird Bay” where some of the characters are introduced.
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Maggie Christensen for taking me back to the sunshine, surf and sand of Bellbird Bay and the enticing romance it brings… Perhaps I should move there too 😉
Coming Home to Bellbird Bay is the second novel in the BellBird Bay series written by Maggie Christensen. I have been wanting to read Maggie’s Granite Springs series for a while and when I saw her latest available to read and review for Beauty and Lace I jumped at the chance.
What a beautiful story – so heartfelt, I really enjoyed reading it. Maggie’s writing is so articulate and engaging.
Grace Winter a widower of two years makes the decision to move closer to her sister Dot at Bellbird Bay. Her beloved family’s rural acreage home has become too much and she feels it is time to start living her life again. Her children can not understand why she would want to sell the family home and move away but she knows it is time. Grace settles into life by the sea but hopes her children will come around in time.
Ted Crawford is a retired solicitor who has also returned to Bellbird Bay where he grew up, he loves surfing and volunteering and is becoming known locally as a talented landscape artist. He has spent most of his life as a widower raising his son alone when his wife passed away early.
Both are single and enjoying finding their way in Bellbird Bay when they are introduced by Dot, but both are not interested in being set up but Grace does catch Ted’s eye. Fate keeps them bumping into each other and a friendship forms but with both having issues with their children will they be able to make time for each other.
It is a story of family, friendship, companionship, and starting again. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading Maggie’s other books. Thank you to Beauty and Lace, Cala Publishing, and Maggie Christensen for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Coming Home to Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen is the second book in the Bellbird Bay Series. It is not a sequel to Summer in Bellbird Bay, so you don’t need to have read that to enjoy this book.
This delightful, easy read follows Grace and Ted as they navigate the trials and tribulations of finding a second chance at love later in life. Along the way they have to deal with their respective relationships with their adult children, how said adult children view the relationship between Grace and Ted, and if indeed they themselves are ready for a relationship.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, spending a cold winters day curled up on the couch reading it in one sitting. This would be the perfect book to read while on holidays.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to review Coming Home To Bellbird Bay.
Ultimately I was interested in reading about Grace moving to the next chapter after her husband dies. Much to get childrens dismay she decides to sell up her home and move close to the ocean.
She meets Ted who is also single and lives in Bellbird Bay.
I don’t want to give away the plot but it is a story with strong characters and a lot of heart. I loved it and highly recommend others read it too.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Coming Home To Bellbird Bay.
This book is part of a series but can be read as a standalone.
My only complaint is that it ended! I found myself stealing moments to read whenever I could because I just couldn’t bear to be away from Bellbird Bay for too long!
A very well written book which will keep any reader intrigued and wanting more.
I was pleased to be given the opportunity to read Coming Home to Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen.
I really enjoyed the book. It was great to read about Grace’s plans to relocate to the coast and nearer to her sister. Her children have selfish reactions to the news but hopefully they come around.
It was also great to read about her friendship with Ted her neighbour.
I really recommend this book.
I really enjoyed reading this second novel in the Bellbird series. It was as good as the first, with different characters so there is no need to have read the first. The characters were great, and themes of second chance love, families and friendship continue.
This book definitely suits an older reader- both books were about women in their 60’s.